Saw II, Welcome to Hollywood
by Medlie Skyth
Summary: The sequel to Saw - Victorious Style. The challengers are forced to partake in various trials, to which they earn keys if they succeed. Rated M for descriptive violence.
1. Run

**A/N: Hi guys! This is the second in the series of my Saw fic. If you haven't read the first one, you can find it here**

** www*fanfiction*net/s/8220230/1/Saw-Victorious-Style**

**or just go to my profile and you'll find it there. Updates are every three days, and ALL feedback is welcome and encouraged!**

Saw II - Welcome to Hollywood

Chapter 1: Run

**Jade's POV**

"No." I breath, seeing the wooded surroundings as I open the door. I look back towards Tori. "I won't do it." I mutter. "I won't leave her here."

"Be that as it may, Tori will not be released until you walk through the door." Rex informs me.

I look to the metal bands restricting her ankles, then to her eyes. She had a stern look as she motioned her head toward the door, as if demanding me to leave.

"I don't want to." I cringe. "I change my decision."

"Like I care which of you leaves." The puppet on the screen scoffs.

"I don't believe that." Tori answers. "You've had many opportunities. If you really didn't care for us, then why are Jade and I still alive?"

"I'm afraid that won't work on me." Rex tells her. "And I'd much rather one of you live. Your friends are dead. You'll go through life without ever seeing them again, you'll understand what it's like."

"_We_ were your friends!" Tori argues back. "You had us, and Beck and Andre and Cat… we cared about you."

"Jade." Rex addresses, ignoring Tori's cries. "Make your decision now, or I'll shut the doors on the both of you." The TV turns off, and I look to Tori again. It flashes back on just as quick. "And don't think I don't have many other torture methods to expose you both to."

It flashes off again, and I look to the warden's office.

"Jade." Tori mutters, now with a pleading look.

She mouths something, and I don't pick it up. I knew Robbie was, in all likelihood, still monitoring us, so I didn't dare ask her to repeat herself, lest he pay actual attention.

I look between the two doors. Was there another way out? But no, I must have just imagined it or something. I return my gaze at her, but pay close attention to her lips as she mouths the words. 'look down'.

I glance to the floor, and back up. The band around her left foot was loose, and though the right still stable…

I shut my eyes, and shake my head. "No. I can't leave you here."

I take a step toward the right door, and, before I turn the handle, spin around. I snatch her wrist and yank her from the floors all in one swift move. Her left foot slips out of the broken band, but the other was stuck.

I was pulled back in reaction, but not giving up yet. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her up. She steps fast, shifting all her weight forward, as the band tears out of the flooring and we make a break for it, the door slamming behind us as we both cross through.

**Tori's POV**

There was nothing but forest around us. Jade pulled me by my wrist, running as fast as we could, farther away from the abandoned prison. The metal band around my ankle dug into the open cuts and burns, but I push through it and try not to hold us up.

We must have been sprinting for a full two minutes before I collapsed. Jade screamed at me to get up, but I wondered if Robbie was even there. It's possible he was just transmitting and controlling the contraptions from a different location. Jade picks me up, and carries me in her arms as she continues through at a fast pace.

"You need to take a break." I mutter.

Jade's body was shaking as she struggled to walk. I was walking beside her now, but I already had my break. She sounded like she was hyperventilating, and she couldn't walk in a straight line. I catch her by the shoulders, and guide her down slowly, sitting the both of us against a tree.

She clings to me as we hit the ground, and I find myself grasping onto her just as tight, beginning to cry. She rests her face against mine. "Tori…" She whimpers, tears also streaming from her eyes.

I held her tighter. I never thought both of us would get out alive, but now that we have, I was never going to let her go. "Don't talk." I instruct. "Just breath."

She shakes her head. "We have to keep running."

"You're going to exhaust yourself." I swallow. "Jade I can't lose you now."

Jade and I pushed through the forest, until we finally reached civilization. We tried to talk to the people there, and soon enough someone called authorities. Jade realized it was us, and not Robbie, they were calling on, so we ran from them too.

People thought we were crazy. I guess I can't blame them, but we needed help. Eventually we found someone to give us a ride to Hollywood. We chose to keep our mouths shut about the whole thing, less the driver changes his mind and takes us to an insane asylum instead.

Jade held me in the back seat. I wasn't well, but I would be better when I got home. I wonder if Trina's safe? And Robbie… If he's smart he'll stay as far away from Hollywood as possible.

I look out the window, and I start to see familiar places. We must be getting close.

"I'm going to drop you kids off here." The driver informs us. He'd stopped inside the gas station, but it looks like it's closed now.

Jade thanks him, and she and I hop out.

"My house is about two blocks from here." I tell her. "We'll be there shortly."

"Wait!" She freaks. She takes my hand, and stands her ground.

I give her a concerned look.

"It's a week day. Your parents won't be home, and your sister's going to be at school." Jade informs me.

"Well we need to rest, and school is like a half hour from here." I say.

She continues to stay put. "No. Robbie would expect that. He could very easily take us again without any witnesses around."

She had a point. We've underestimated Robbie by a long shot, and he's proved he can get his hands on us if he wants to. He'll be back, and we need witnesses if we're ever going to convince anyone of what he's doing.

On the walk over, the streets seemed very… quiet. There were cars passing through every now and then, but… well it just didn't seem as busy as usual. I'm probably worried for nothing, though. It's a week day, after all. People are at work, kids are at school…

We arrive in front of Hollywood Arts. Jade suggests we talk to Lane first and try to explain what happened, but who knows what good it would do us. I also wanted to find Trina, and make sure she wasn't in any danger. Jade agrees, and we walk inside.


	2. Eyes

Chapter 2: Eyes

***Jade's POV***

When Tori and I entered the school, we expected people to be watching us. We couldn't have been gone that long, but it wasn't just us; Cat, Andre, and Beck were also victims. That's five people who've disappeared.

What we didn't expect, however, was to see all our classmates and fellow performers staring at us, while simultaneously decaying in the corner.

It was a terrible sight. Tori looked mortified, and I was a bit concerned myself. Most of the students were dead; a lot of them looked as though they were exposed to acid, and much longer than we were.

Tori and I walk the halls, trying to keep our sights focused and ignore the blood-drenched students, calling to us through scarred throats. Jessica had a hold of my leg. As I remember, the girl had the voice of an angel, and has never touched a cigarette. Now as she spoke, her voice was strained and lacked tone all together.

"Help." She breaths. It looked as though she was trying to scream at us, yet I could barely hear her.

Tori kneels down and puts her hand on Jessica's rotting shoulder. I pull her back up, and tell her we don't have time.

"Let's look for someone who's in good enough condition to help, and get out before whoever did this comes back." I tell her. I had no idea though that we were much too late for either of those things.

Most of the classroom doors were plastered shut with heavy wood planks and nails. The doors to the courtyard out back were shut, and I start to become concerned.

"Jade, we already went that way." Tori reminds me as I begin to speed-walk towards the entrance.

"I know. I'm getting the fuck out of here." I say, and start running.

The front doors, which we'd entered five minutes ago, wouldn't open. I began to panic, and ran around the school checking every window and door. I come to the second level, and discover a pad-lock with seven key-holes keeping us from getting to the roof.

Tori runs up behind me seconds later and pauses. I watch her stare over the lock, a look of horror passing over her face.

"We're trapped." She mumbles, and her knees begin to shake.

No, we… we can't be! Not again. We've barely recovered from our previous trials, there's no way…

I study the padlock again. One of the keys was already in the hole. I take the black object in my hands, but it's stuck in there. I lock it, unlock it, pull it every which way, but it wasn't coming out.

"Sikowitz." Tori blurts.

"Sikowitz isn't going to help us in this type of situation, Tori." I groan, still fumbling with the key.

"No, I mean… Sikowitz CLASS. There's a window in his room, it opens up like a door." Tori explains. "It's worth a shot, right?"

"Then you go wander these halls, and give Robbie a better chance of finding you. I'm staying here. I'm going to see if I can bust these locks open." I say, giving one of the padlocks a strong kick.

Tori remains put. "I don't think it's a good idea we let each other out of our sights."

She was scared, and I don't blame her. She needs to understand though that if we go anywhere, we may trigger more trials, obstacles, and other forms of torture. "There's nothing you can say that'll convince me it's a good idea to leave this spot." I inform her. "I'm not going to keep you from trying to escape, but I think what we need right now is to rest before we start anything."

She sighs. "Nothing I can say?"

"Or do." I add.

"Okay." She shrugs. "I can understand that. But… I do think you'll try and stop me."

I look to her.

"You're really just going to let me walk off by myself? You care too much about me to let me do that."

I grit my teeth at her. "Tori, don't. Besides, you're too scared to go off on your own anyway."

"Watch me." She taunts, and walks down the stairs.

She rounds the corner, and for a minute I wonder if I really should follow her or not. I forget the thought entirely when I hear a high-pitched shriek, and go running down the stairs.

"TORI!" I shout, and run into her.

"See? I knew I could get you to leave." She smirks.

I give her a stern look. For fuck sakes, she scared the living crap out of me! "What the hell do you think you're doing Vega? This isn't fucking funny! Don't you know I-"

She looks up at me, still smiling. "You what?"

Damn it.

"Come on, let's go check Sikowitz' class." I grumble, and start walking back down the halls.

We arrive in front of the door. There was a board or something over the window, and we couldn't see inside. I look to her, asking if she _really_ wants to go in. She nods, and I open the door.

We step inside, and I expect it to lock behind us. It remained open, though. There were more dead students around the corners of the room, and what looked like a scale; much like the one we used to collect Cat's blood a few days ago.

"I see you've-" Rex starts. We spin around and look at the television.

"Robbie!" I grunt. "You did this?"

"Well I didn't expect to see the two of you here." Rex says. "Very well. Since my challengers are in a bind, I'll allow you two to continue where they left off. You may thank me later."

Thank him. I wanted to kill him.

"The rules are simple; collect the keys, and escape. There are a total of ten, my previous challengers have already collected one, and opened one of the padlocks. There are six remaining, and nine keys."

We listen carefully.

"I see you've noticed the bucket. I'd like for you girls to fill it with thirty of your classmate's eye balls."

Tori cringes, but compared to what we've been through…

"You have thirty seconds."

A timer appears on the screen, and I see it count down to 29 before making a break for it and running towards a kid passed out in a seat.

The boy was still alive, and suffering from what I could tell. 27 seconds remain, and I don't have time to only take the dead ones. I pull his eyelids up, and scrape over the underside of his eye sockets until the eye slides out, and I yank the thin cord connecting it to his body.

22 seconds, and I don't think Tori's touched anyone yet. I drop the caution and jab my hand into the other eye, ripping it out and dropping them in the bowl before continuing to the corners of the room.

One by one I lifted the students heads, and gouged out each of their eyes. 15 seconds remain as I return to the bowl, and drop in two more handfuls.

"Tori you have to help!" I shout, seeing as though she only had two in her hand.

"I- I think Jerry's still alive, Jade!" The girl replies in a panicky tone, as I continue working my way around the room. "Oh my god… I think I took one of his eyes… I…"

"Snap out of it!" I yell back. "Think of them as numbers, not names."

I can see how this would be hard for Tori, but I wasn't about to get this done on my own. The thing that puzzled me was the door remained open. Was it possible if we failed, he doesn't kill us?

I couldn't hesitate now though. I'd already taken so many, and I can't let that go to waste. If we get this key now, it'll save us from other forms or torture later on.

I drop a few more in, to see the timer at 5 seconds remaining. Tori was shivering in the corner, three more in her hand, slowly pulling out a fourth. I take her wrist, pull her up, and she sees the time and drops the eyes in the bowl.

As the timer hits 0, a buzzer goes off. We see the door we entered through close, and I run to it.

"No!" I panic, pulling at the door. Tori looked like she was about to pass out.

"The two of you have collected 33 eyes." Rex says, appearing on the tv.

"So give us the key and let us out!" I scream.

The pedestal sitting on the stage remained still. The dome over it lifts, and the key is reveled.

"Use the key to unlock the door, or consume ten eyeballs and I'll unlock it for you."

Consume… He wants us to…

I put my hand over my mouth, becoming sick just thinking about it.

"Each." He adds.

With that the tv flicks off. I walk from the door to the stage, and pick up the key.

"You okay?" I ask Tori, who was frozen- mortified, in the middle of the room.

"I-if we use the key, then we would have done all that for nothing." She stutters. "B-but…"

"Okay, calm down, now. Let's just consider this." I say, stepping closer to her. "We don't have to, we have a scapegoat. But… how about each of us just take _one_."

She flinches.

"Just one, and see if we can stomach nine more." I finish.

She shakes her head. "I can't stomach nine more. I can't do one."

I felt bad, but we needed this key. I walk over to the bowl, take one out, and throw it back, making sure Tori's watching.

It was wet. I crushed it with my tongue, and it's thin crunchy exterior burst with some sort of goopy liquid, which stuck to the back of my teeth as I force it down my throat.

I nearly threw it back up, but forced myself not to. I kept as good of a poker face as I could to convince Tori it's not as bad as she thinks.

"No problem." I say. "Needs a little salt."

She stares at me. "You're really making jokes at a time like this?"

Well it was for her benefit! I was just trying to take her mind off of the task in general.

"I _see_ your point." I continue, but she seems almost more upset. I sigh. "Okay, just… take it like a pill. Take the smaller ones, and swallow them whole."

I pick one up, and bring it too her. I place it in her palm, and she looks at it. "…I don't know."

Damn it, Vega…

"Look, we put them through pain, now it's our turn." I tell her. I would try every tactic I could to convince her to do this, even if it meant holding her down and shoving them down her throat.

"Jade…" She cringes. "I can't."

I don't want it to come to that, though.

"Think of what we've been through, then." I try. "There's no telling what obstacles are ahead of us. Wouldn't you rather eat a couple eye balls than melt in acid?"

She kept her sights locked to the eye in her hand as I spoke. I see her begin to shake, and slowly raise her palm to her face.

As she's about to put it in her mouth, I stop her. "Wait!" I cry.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry- I… you don't have to. I mean, if you can't, I understand." I tell her, shaking myself. She looks at me; she could tell I felt guilty for trying to manipulate her.

Tori shuts her eyes, takes a breath in, and drops the eye in her mouth.

I look away.

"…"

When I look back, I could tell she was trying her best not to let it come back up. She started to cough, and her eyes start to water.

"…are you going to…?"

"No." She says. I see her swallow again. "But… I think… it could probably use a little more salt."

I sigh in relief, and smile a little.

She looks up and laughs, but hiccups and covers her mouth. She swallows again.

One down, nine to go. Each.


	3. Venom

Chapter 3: Venom

**Tori's POV**

Something weird about these padlocks is that once the key is turned, and the door unlocked, the key stays in place. It can't be removed.

"Where to next?" I ask.

Jade shrugs. "Robbie said there were other challengers here somewhere, maybe we should look for them, and see if we can't work together."

That's right! But, he also mentioned they were in a 'bit of a bind', as he put it. Jade begins down the steps and around the corner, and I figure we'll have to run into these challengers eventually.

We pass our councilor's office on the way down. Again, the window on the door was blocked off and we couldn't see in. I grab Jade's wrist, getting her attention and pointing at the door.

We look at each other. She nods, and we decide to head inside.

Her hand shook before she opened the door. The room is dim, and the windows to the outside were blocked off completely. We notice a single snake slide across the room before the door locks behind us.

"The key is hidden somewhere in this room. There is no time limit, but the snake's bites should kill you in fifteen seconds or less." Rex explains, though there's no TV this time.

The snake comes shooting at us, and we both dodge away. I think to step on it, but Jade pulls me back. "It's too fast. Just find the key so we can get out of here."

It was hard too see anything with how dark it was. I pulled open drawers and lifted the couch cushions, only to find more snakes.

"Ah!" Jade yelps, and I look to her.

"I- I'm fine." She stutters. "It missed."

We couldn't waste any more time. Snakes were everywhere, and we had to make sure our movements were slow. I go to move some things on Lane's desk, but didn't notice the snake guarding it. It began up my arm, and I freeze.

My first reaction was to swat it away, but like Jade said, they're too fast. Any quick movements would cause the reptile to react, and sink it's teeth into my blood-stream.

"I got it." Jade breaths.

"Jade." I speak softly, holding my arm away from me as the snake continues to wrap itself around.

She gasps, but stays still, not wanting to startle it.

The door to the office unlocked, but I couldn't just leave the snake on my arm. For one, it was beginning to cut off the circulation.

Jade puts the key in her pocket and instructs me to walk closer to the door. I tip-toe towards it, my eyes locked with the snake's beedy-red stare. Once Jade meets me over there, she carefully opens the door, and we step outside.

"Now what?" I panic in hush tone.

I see her back off slowly before running to the other side of the hall and prying off one of the locker doors. She returns with it, and tells me not to make any sudden movements.

Crap.

I knew what she was doing, but it was the only way to kill it without Jade having to get close to it. I hold my arm out, and turn my head away.

"Fuck!"

I look back, and see Jade on the ground. She was curled up, and screaming.

Then I notice the bite on her shoulder, and the snake slithering across the locker door. I don't hesitate to flip it over and smash the thing before returning my attention to Jade.

She was breathing sporadically, making it hard to understand her. "Th-the… key, is… i-is…"

I ignore her, and seal my lips around the bite on her shoulder. It could have been too late, but I at least had to try and suck the poison out.

I could taste her blood in the mix with a strong bitter substance that stung as it passed over my tongue. I continued to drain the liquid from her until I couldn't take any more in my mouth, and spit it on the floor.

Jade was motionless on the ground, her eyes closed. Only fifteen seconds… was I too late?

"Jade?" I whimper. I was still leaning over her, and put my hand to her face.

Her eyes open the tiniest bit before they shut again. "Yeah…?" She mutters.

"Oh thank god!" I cry, and embrace her.

"Can we take a break?"

I nod, still crying like an idiot. She remained still on the floor, but I see the edges of her lips curve into a smile.

**Jade's POV**

Tori returned from the steps after taking the key from my pocket. I wanted to tell her maybe we should save them, incase something similar to our eyeball challenge happens, except we don't have the key to free ourselves. I didn't have the breath, though.

Tori returns to my side, and sits on the floor next to me. She begins to run her fingers through my hair, and I see her start to cry as she looks at me.

"I said I was fine." I remind her, returning my gaze to the ceiling.

"I know." Tori says. "I'm still a little shaken up, I guess. I thought I'd lost you Jade."

There have always been sprinklers on the ceilings, in case of fire. I knew they were there, but I never really, _really_ noticed them until now. How hard can it be to replace the water with dangerous chemicals? If someone had the access to such dangerous materials, that is.

It takes a twisted mind to actually go through with it, though.

"…do you want me to stay here with you?"

I look at her. Isn't she the one who said we should stick together?

"If you're alright, I was going to maybe try and get another key." She continues.

"By yourself?" I ask. "You're going to go attempt a challenge on your own?"

Since I think about it, the last two we encountered could have been completed by one person. There weren't designed for two people, like many of the trials at the police station were.

"It'll give you time to recuperate, and that way it'll be one less thing you need to do."

It's true that I need time to recuperate…

Tori stands. "I'll be right back with another key. Don't move, I'll-"

"Absolutely not." I interrupt.

She stops.

"Tori Vega you do not leave my sight, do you understand me?" I repeat, though still my sights fixed to the ceiling.

"Look, I'm in as good of condition as I'm going to be considering the circumstances. I can handle a challenge on my own." She argues.

"No." I repeat. "Tori, no."

She walks back over, and sits next to me again, crossing her arms. "Can't you just go back to not caring about me or something?"

I lock eyes with her. "Don't say that."

"You did." She sighs.

"And what, you believed it?" I challenge. "I thought you'd know how much you mean to me by now."

My eyes fall to the metal band, still loosely around her ankle. It was too small to slip off, but it looks like the connector piece, which poorly kept it to the floor, had fallen off. Now it was just a thick silver anklet, digging into the cuts around her foot.

"You're important to me too Jade."

I lock eyes with her.

She takes my hand. "Which is why I want to do this."

Tori…

I didn't want her to go, but I could barely move. She knew that, and stood up anyway. "I'm going to check the Block Box. I'll be back." She says, and I watch her disappear around the lockers.


	4. Gauntlet

Chapter 4: Gauntlet

**Tori's POV**

A lot of the students around were still breathing, just barely. It wasn't the easiest thing for me to ignore them, but I kept reminding myself that Jade needed me more than they did. Or… maybe I needed Jade more than anyone else.

I can't enter through the main doors, but notice the stairs to the catwalk are open. It was inviting me in, and I knew whatever was up there wasn't going to be good. I had no choice though, if I wanted another key.

I walk up the stairs, careful of my step. If the doors to the Black Box were locked, it's possible I could fall through and be trapped. I reach the top of the stairs, and can hear chatter and screams from the other side.

I open the door expecting to see the other challengers. I found many of my teachers, as well as staff and faculty, chained to the railing by their wrist on both sides of the catwalk.

"Is that Tori?"

"Tori! Help us!" My principal Helena cried, though I couldn't see her.

"Welcome." Rex laughs demonically, as his image appears on the large screen projected below. "Sorry to have kept you so long."

"A puppet?" One of the teachers freaks.

"Tori, your instructions are simple. Take the key from the highest point of the catwalk, and leave. The rest of you- stop her." Rex continues.

W-what?

"If she does not retrieve the key in five minutes, I'll set all of you free." Rex explains. His image flickers off, and a timer appears on the screen.

I look to the many angry adults. They each had one wrist bound to the rail, but there were many ways they could get to me. I don't exactly weigh a lot, and though I don't know what would happen if someone fell from here and landed hard, but I didn't really want to find out.

The timer was counting down. It was a thirty second sprint, but I had to pass through the people, whose goal was to stop me. I take a breath, and charge in.

Immediately I'm tripped. I fall to the ground, and am kicked and stomped. I crawl forward some before attempting to rise off the ground. A shoe crashes into my skull, and I'm face-down on the floor again. I yank it off me and shoot up before someone else pushes me down.

Some of the teachers weren't even doing anything- Misses Rein was crying, and I don't think she had it in her to hurt me. Others were physically trying to stop me, while trying to reason that there were more of them than me. I run past, ignoring the fact that I had the power to let them all go right now.

Helen grabs my wrist. A few others grab at me too, but she instructs them all to stop.

"Now stop, everyone LEAVE HER ALONE!" She screams, and for a moment, things go quiet. "…Tori, hun, listen to me."

Her grip was still tight on my wrist. "I don't know what this is, what kind of crazy game we're caught in, but can't you find it in your sweet little soul to let us go?"

I avoid looking at her. No names… just numbers…

So very many numbers, though. There had to be at least a hundred teachers and faculty alone. Not to mention counselors, the principal and vice principal…

"Please Tori Vega, turn yourself around and leave. No one has to get hurt here." Helen says. She pulls my wrist toward the exit, and I stare ahead.

The clock was ticking down, and I don't know if I could make it anyway. I take a step forward; no one was fighting me, they just watched in hopeful silence.

"…I'm sorry." I cringe, looking down.

I feel their eyes on me, but can't look at them. They were people, but they were more than just strangers. I almost wish I could gouge my own eyes out, so I wouldn't have to see those whose lives I was going to be responsible for.

I take another step toward the exit, and quickly push myself backwards, taking the moment of calm to gain some distance until the room erupted, and was nearly tripped again.

I jump over the foot, and spring right into a fist to my gut. My breath is knocked out of me momentarily, and I go flying to the floor again, but catch myself on my hands and knees and stand as fast as I could.

"YOU'RE A KILLER TORI VEGA!" The man curses, and I push on harder.

There were no rules- they grabbed my hair, the ring on my ankle, more then once I was pulled back by both my arms and feet, and passed down the line. I've had to punch and kick, and even bite my way out before getting free, and time was counting down. Three minutes remain, and I wasn't even up to the stairs. I still had another level to pass before I could reach the key.

I had to get there. I had to cover more ground then I was; there was no option. I could feel my adrenaline fire up inside me, and I did everything possible to get by.

I begin my assent, with a little under two minutes remaining. There were even people caught on the stairway, bond to the rails and doing everything to stop me. The first three steps were easy, but I received a boot to my nose and fell backwards to the ground.

My head hit hard, and for a second my vision blurred. I shook myself out of it and threw two feet holding me down off, once again starting up the stairs.

I had to take hold of some of the rails and some times the arms of those paining me, just to keep from falling back. It gave them more control then I would have liked, but I didn't have a choice if I was ever going to get up the stairs.

There wasn't room, but I dodged left and right from the kicks being thrust at me. I could see the next level from where I was, and I knew if I fell now, I wouldn't have the time to climb back up.

I move up another two steps before two hands close around my neck, and I look up to see Mister Samuel and Darrel the janitor both have a hold on me.

"S-stop…" I choke, but the words barely come out.

"We aren't taking any chances." Darrel explains, rather somberly.

The air was being cut off to my brain, but I had to think. These were too big men, and I could pull as hard as I want but I was only getting weaker. It was no use.

"I'm sorry!" I hack. "Please, don't kill me!"

One of the hands loosed a little, and I gasp in air through the tight space I was given before the other tightens his grip.

"Ignore her." Mister Samuel demands.

Darrel has a soft spot for me; I was always one of his favorite students. Mister Samuel was my history teacher for the first semester, but I didn't know him all that well. I had to at least try to guilt them out of this, or convince them to let me go.

"P-please!" I cry. "I can't breath! It hurts…" I moan, and more tears fall from my face. "It hurts!"

I don't know if it was working. I'm not the best actress ay Hollywood Arts, but I had to try something.

Darrel let's go, and I gasp for air. He grabs onto my wrist instead.

"What are you doing!?" Samuel grunts.

"I know we agreed to kill her, but can't we just hold her? She has sixty seconds- not even."

Less than a minute left… if Darrel could convince Samuel to just grab my wrists instead, I knew a technique to get out of it. I tone it down a little, but continue to cry and whimper.

"Why take the chance?!" Samuel argues.

"We're strong enough to hold her in place by her wrists- let the girl live for god sakes!"

For a moment; nothing. I feel his grip release, and don't hesitate to twist my elbow backwards, press into Darrel's grip, then twist my hand and pull out. They nearly snatch me by my feet, but I dive forward.

Thirty seconds. I shot through the catwalk isle, breaking away form everyone's grabbing hands. I'm nearly there when I'm grabbed by my hair and pulled to the ground.

I force my way up, despite the attempts to keep me down. I was so close. I begin to make a dash to the key, but a shock connects with my spine, and the small of my back felt like it was on fire.

I was stunned long enough for the people around me to hold me still. I see a thick being passed to the front, and realize they must have broke off some of the lighting cords.

I turn my head when the try to shove it in my mouth. My arms were being held, and though I couldn't shove it away, I could let them hit a less sensitive area.

I scream from my throat, fighting the urge to open my mouth as the device burns my temple. I bring my face down, but another lifts it up. Soon everyone was helping to grab my face and neck, and keep me still.

Ten seconds.

With them now holding my face, and few keeping my arms held, I wait for the guy with the device to dart towards my face again before freeing my wrists, grabbing the rails, and pulling myself to the ground. I crawl my way past, and stumble to my feet before diving at the key again.

My fingers land on it as another takes hold of my foot. I nearly drop it, but grip the small object in my hands. My vision flashes in and out, and painful images pass through my mind.

_The gorilla grabs hold of her legs, causing her to trip and drop the weapon. She had seconds to choose to either risk being smashed at an attempt to grasp the knife, or roll out of the way and avoid the beast._

I wasn't about to make the same mistakes. The timer stops at two seconds remaining, and I keep the key clenched in my grip as the mob continues to beat me, yelling in outrage to the point where all my ears could hear was one loud, constant stream of static.

Rex was on the tv again, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I claw myself out from under the feet, and stand up. As I walked back to the door, I received many glares. Some hit me, and continued to harm me as I made my way back to the door, but most didn't do anything. They knew it was too late, and instead attacked me with harsh words of how they'll never see their children and loved ones again.


	5. Barbed Wire

Chapter 5: Barbed Wire

**Tori's POV**

When I returned, Jade was sitting on the stairs and leaning against the railing. It sounded like she was saying something, but as I walked closer, I realized she was singing.

I don't think she noticed me walk up. "Hey." I smile, and she stops singing and looks at me.

"Oh my god." She notes. "Tori, your hair's standing on ends."

I reach up and touch it. She was exaggerating- it wasn't _that_ bad. I felt a lot of frizz, though.

"What happened?" She asks, standing from the stairs and approaching me, and runs her hand over the scalding mark on my face.

"Some one left on the electrical on in the Black Box." I say. "I got the key, though."

Her gaze remains locked to mine though. "Okay, but what _happened_?"

"…I… Do you really want to know?" I cringe.

She pulls me to the steps and sits me down. "Look, you don't have to talk about it. I get it. I'm just… I don't know. I've been concerned. You've been gone a while…"

"Do you feel rested up?" I ask.

She nods.

We sat for a while and I ended up explaining the trial to Jade. Some time around when I mentioned the electric shock to my spine is when she asked me to stop talking.

"…hey, Jade."

"What?" She was acting tough, but it almost looked like she was crying. She hid her face well, though.

"I'm alive. And we have another key." I explain. "We're one step closer to getting out of here."

"Then what?" She mumbles.

I look at her. That sorta came out of no where.

"I've been thinking since I've been sitting here. Where are we going to go, Tori? The town's been abandoned, the people we care about dead and gone." She sighs. "What's going to happen to us if we do escape?"

I watch her for a moment. "First of all, we will escape." I declare. I move closer to her, and put an arm around her. "And… you haven't lost all the people who care about you."

**Jade's POV**

Most of the classrooms were blocked off, as we discovered.

"We could always try the restrooms." Tori offers, looking around as we walked.

"I'd rather not." I cringe. I keep forgetting she's never seen the movie. We round back towards the stairs. "We could check in there." I point towards the gymnasium.

Tori nods, and we walk inside. I expect the doors to lock behind us, but they remain open. We wandered around, climbed up the bleachers, looked in the weight rooms… nothing here indicated towards any existence of a key, or a challenge.

"The pool." Tori notes, and steps out into the other side of the hallway. I make my way across the gym, and follow her out.

"Tori?"

"Here!" She calls, poking out from the pool doors. "I think I found something!"

I take a deep breath, and follow her down. When I arrive, she points inside the windows on the doors. The pool is filled with chicken wire- wait, barb wire. No matter what we did, the doors wouldn't open.

We tried several entrances; through the locker rooms, through the life-guard's room… we even tried going out the front doors to get in through the outside entrance, until we remembered we were locked in.

"That would kinda be pointless if we could just go outside, I guess." Tori chuckles.

"But now what?" I question. I mean, how does he expect us to complete the challenge if we can't even get in?

_Since my challengers are in a bind, I'll allow you two to continue where they left off._

That's right… there's other challengers here besides us. Maybe they got locked in, and that's where they're stuck now.

I'm about to tell Tori, when she interrupts by pointing up to the second level. "There's doors up there."

Oh… "You can't get to the upper level without going through the pool, you know."

She pauses for a second, and looks around her. Without warning, she climbs up on the front desk and grabs on to the small tv hanging from the wall. At first her hands slide right off; bringing a trail of dust with them. A second attempt and she hoists herself up; dangling off the edge as she struggles to pull herself atop it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I scold. "You're going to break it!"

"I think the school has bigger issues to worry about than a broken- WHOA!"

I gasp, and cover my eyes. When I peek up, She's grasping on to the railing at the base of the second floor, her other hand pushing against the tv for support.

"Will you get down form there?"

She ignores me, and grabs for the railing. From there she easily pulls herself up, and hops over. "Your turn." She smirks, looking proud.

I roll my eyes, and climb atop the counter. I was weary about climbing up the tv, but I knew I'd have Tori's help getting over it. I'm finally up, and Tori leads towards the entrance.

As we start to get closer to the room, the scent of hard liquor fills our nostrils. I knew Tori could smell it to, because her face scrunched up when it hit us. We push open the doors, and they lock behind us. We look back when we hear the sound, and don't notice when Trina comes running up to us. She tackles her sister to the ground.

"Why did you let it close?!" Trina scolds. "Now we're trapped!"

So there are other challengers here. Trina's stuck in all this too. I guess that explains why Rex said she was in a bind. It's Trina- do I really need to go into detail?

"Trina, you're okay!" Tori excites, standing up.

"No, I'm not! I'm locked in Hollywood Arts and we have been trying to get this stupid key for hours but it just won't-"

"We?" I pick up.

"Hey guys!"

Tori and I look to our left, where we see Robbie standing and waving at us.

"Robbie." I grunt, feeling a fire growing in the pit of my stomach. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard the warning bells go off- _he's dangerous_. I didn't care though; I wanted to rip him apart for what he's done.

I lunge forward and grab his scrawny neck, gripping my hands tighter around it. I feel he's about to pass out when Trina comes up behind me and yanks me off him.

"What are you doing?!" Trina snaps, and I break away from her.

"He's the one who's put all this together!" Tori accuses. "He killed Beck and Andre!"

"You did?" Trina questions, looking at the boy on the ground; gasping for air.

"I killed them?" Robby chokes. "I've been stuck here ever since the school went into lock down."

I wasn't sure if I believed him; he doesn't go anywhere without Rex. Robbie had to have some part in this. Then again though, he is kind of, I don't know… Robbie. I can't be entirely sure of his innocence, but for now, he doesn't seem like much of a threat to us.

I sigh, and look to Tori. She nods, signifying she must trust him a little as well.

"Okay." I shrug. "So, what are we trying to accomplish here?"

Trina explains to us the instructions. Apparently there's a key buried somewhere within the pool of barbed wire and alcohol. That explains the smell, at least. Robbie adds that they've already found the key, but can't get to it.

"You fucking babies! Just jump in and grab it." I scoff.

"It's not exactly that simple." Robbie begins.

It turns out that not only is the key beneath the alcohol, but it's looped through the barbed wire. To get it out, they would have to string it through the entire mess in the pool; up, around, through all the knots and snags… all while holding their breath under the pool of alcohol.

"And we think it can be done; Trina found the end of the wire. The thing is, it's kinda hard to see what connects to where since we really can't keep our eyes open… so it's pretty much a guessing game on where we need to move it."

"And the freaking spikes keep tearing into my skin!" Trina moans.

She didn't look too bad actually. I can't say the same for Robbie; he had tears and scrapes all over. The wire was thick in the pool; it's impossible to get around it. It seems to me Trina's having Robbie do all the work, while she sits back and twiddles her thumbs.

"Well we really don't have a choice." Tori begins. "We'll take turns, and grab it from the same angle every time. If we move it down the line one bit at a time, then eventually we'll have to-"

I roll my eyes, and begin towards the pool. Tori calls after me, and by the time I'm down the steps, they follow. I check the pool equipment closet on the far end and find just what I'm looking for.

"Scissors?" Trina comments, and I can tell she isn't following.

Robbie caught on though, as did Tori, who smiled in delight.

"But how did you-"

"I always keep a few around the school." I answer her, anticipating her question. I shove the scissors in Robbie's hands. "You said you know where it is, so go cut the rope and grab it."

"Now wait a minute-"

"NO. No waiting. There's no use in stalling, so suck it up and go." I instruct.

He looks like he's about to argue, but decides against it and mopes towards the pool. He's about to take a step in when Tori stops him.

"I'll do it." She gulps.

Wh-

"You take a break, and rest up." She tells Robbie, holding on to him by the shoulder. "It's under the diving board, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Don't worry about it." She assures him.

Tori stands at the pool's edge, and looks in. We were as close as we could get to the key from the sides, but it was still a long tread through the wires and liquid. Tori dips her foot in, and the barbs scrape against the metal band on her ankle. It emanates a squeal, and Tori cringes.

Soon she steps in through, trying her best not to touch the barbs. She had to move some out of the way so her legs wouldn't scrape against them, but as she moved her hands to push others aside, the previous ones would pierce her skin as they repositioned.

She freezes in her spot, and I see blood dispersing through the alcohol. The strong liquid worked its way into Tori's wounds, causing her to tense and nearly trip.

She was about waist deep when I couldn't take it any more.

I march in; I only stop for a second when the alcohol hits the cuts. I shook it off and pressed forward.

"Jade, I can handle it." Tori says when she notes me working my way towards her.

"Well I can't." I grunt. I take another step forward, one of the barbs cutting into my sides as I do, and swipe the scissors from her. It was hard enough having to watch now. It's best I get her out of this before she sticks her face under.

I watch as she steps out, and take a breath. As I do though, a barb sticks me through my shirt, and a sharp pain shoots through my body. Maybe she no longer had to deal with it, but that meant I did. I tread carefully through the wires until it's up to my shoulders.

"You're going to have to swim." Trina calls over.

I knew that! But… there's… there's no way. With how much moving around it'll take to keep myself afloat, the wires are going to be hashing into me.

But I can see the key, and it's not to far. If I just make a bee-line for it, I'll save myself some blood for the trip back.

I take a moment to calm my breathing. With one long inhale, I dive under.

Robbie was right; it's impossible to see. I had to rely on my sense of touch, but the only thing I could feel around me were the spikes dragging across my skin. I nearly gasp in the intoxicating liquid surrounding me, but know if I did I could easily drowned.

I open my eyes for a moment to try and spot the key, but all I can see is a hazy light, somewhere at the bottom of a deep well. The vision gets even more so blurry; as if I were in a dream, and when I open my eyes again, I'm no longer in the school pool.

_A shadowy figure slithers across the light beam. It wasn't a shark we were dealing with; it was some kind of crocodile. The next thing I know something sharp clamps down on my ankle, and I'm being whirled around at a dizzy pace._

_ I couldn't break free, no matter what I did. Then I felt something else; someone's hands as they worked my foot out of the monster's jaw. I'm being pulled through the corridor, and Tori lifts me out of the water once we surface._

I gasp for air as I surface, and look around. All three looked relieved as I held the key in my hand, and looked at it myself. I… I got it.

I was quick to come back; not caring of how reckless I was being and just wanting out. As I claw my way out, I collapse to the floor in a puddle of alcohol and blood.

"I thought you drowned." Tori sobs. She had a smile on her face though; relieved to see that I hadn't.

"Jade, you have completed the task." Robbie- or… our captor's voice, echoes through the room. "Use the key to leave the room, or take the prize instead." Across the room, we notice a pedestal rise. The four of us rush over to it, and see a gun lying within its case. On it is label, which reads 'single bullet'.

"Well… what do I do?" I question, but I was really only looking for Tori's opinion.

"I don't think we should take it." Robbie cringes. "What would we even use it for?"

Clearly he wasn't familiar with this game the way we thought he was. I could think of several reasons we might use one, but…

"I think so too." I sigh. "Even if we do use the one bullet to get through a different challenge, it'll only be for another key. I say we save ourselves from having to deal with another of these trials and use it on the padlock."

"It's your choice, but…" Tori starts. "I don't know. Thinking in terms of the key itself; I mean, yeah. But a gun- I mean, it could save our lives if used correctly."

"We won't have to put ourselves in such a dire situation though if we can avoid using it in the first place." I reason.

"All I'm saying is, even if it's one less at the end, we'll still have other challenges. If we can't even make it that far because we're dead, then it doesn't matter if we saved ourselves an extra key or not."

"Good point…" I say aloud. There are other keys available, and it is my choice. I stick the key in the lock and turn it. The casing opens, and I take the gun from the stand. It almost felt a bit to familiar as the pedestal lowers, and I hold the gun to my side.

Left. I held the gun with my _left_ hand. _Take her life, and leave now. The path to freedom rests in your hand. _How could I not have realized it before? Whoever set this up, they must have known I use my left hand to write, or just naturally for anything that others would typically use their right hand for. It's almost hard to believe how well this person knows me.

Not just me; but Tori, Beck, Andre, Cat… I can't help but think maybe it wasn't a coincidence Tori was locked in with a Gorilla. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence I was locked in with a wolf; Beck loves dogs of all sorts, I couldn't imagine him having to kill one had he and Andre moved on.

All the little details, and all the little things, they all add up. There was one missing variable to the formula though; who? Who's doing this to us? If not Robbie, then someone else close enough to us to know all these little things about us. An un-nerving feeling shoots up my spine as I walk alongside the group, and try to recall everything piece of information I can from the past events.


	6. Chambers

Chapter 6: Chambers

**Tori's POV**

Trina, Robbie, Jade and I enter the room together. Around the room are what appear to be fifteen glass chambers.

"Though this was meant for two, the four of you will now have to face this test." Rex explains, appearing on the TV screen.

"Rex! Stop, please! Can't we talk this over?" Robbie pleads, and it's apparent they boy's lost it.

"In front of you are chambers containing a variety of possible events. The event is triggered once the door closes, and you will be locked inside for a full thirty seconds, shall you survive." Rex continues, ignoring Robbie's statement. "One of these events will release to you the key. Leave now, or risk death for the chance of escape. The choice is yours."

With that, the TV flicks off. 15 chambers, split between four victims.

"I say we all enter at the same time." Robbie suggests. That way we'll all be released at the same time."

"IF we're released!" Trina points out.

"And besides, that's stupid." Jade huffs. "What if one of us walks in there and finds the key on the first go?"

As lucky as that would be, it's also highly unlikely. I do agree that maybe we should enter one at a time, but odds are all four of us would have to endure the torture at some point.

Robbie shrugs. "Who goes first, then?"

We look between each other. No one said anything; no one moved.

"…I'll go first." I finally say, and step forward.

Jade grabs my arm, pulls me back, and steps inside the one closest to her first. Without saying a word, she inhales deeply and shuts the door.

At first, there was nothing. Hell, maybe she triggered the key after all! Soon enough the tube above her started to react, and a pool of tiny bugs poured onto her.

I saw her flinch, and squeeze her eyes shut. Among the bugs were tiny spiders and ants, along with maggots and the majority of the bugs being scorpions. The tiny insects crawled through Jade's hair, some tumbling down to her neck and shoulders, while others dropped down her shirt.

She was still for a moment; either holding on and trying not to panic, or just mortified from fear. Soon she let out a shriek, muffled from the glass, and began wiping and scraping the bugs off her.

I put my hands over my face, and take a few staggered steps back.

I then see Robbie move forward, and take a glass case on the other side of the room. When he closes the door, the pipes instantly fill the tank with water, eventually covering his face before his thirty seconds start.

I look back to Jade's chamber. The clock hit three, two, one… and I rush forward when the lock releases and pull her out. I help her swipe the bugs from her, until her breathing returns to normal and she relaxes.

Sorta. She was still a bit tense, as was I.

"I think he's drowning!" Trina gasps, and Jade and I turn our attention to Robbie's tank.

He had another ten seconds to go, and though his face looked as though he was struggling, he was spouting out air in short segments. On the five second mark, he begins to bang on the door, coughing out the last of his breath.

When the clock hits zero, the lock unlatches itself, and he pushes the door open. Trina Jade and I rush to his side, where he'd fallen to the ground in a puddle of water.

He hacked and coughed more, but he was breathing, and survived.

"You alright?" I check.

Robbie nods, and we help him up.

I look to Trina. "Guess it's our turn." I sigh, and look over the glass cases carefully.

"Oh no. You guys stay and find your key if you want to, but I'm not taking my chances." Trina says, as she begins to leave.

"Trina!" I scold. The nerve of that girl! This is her freedom on the line too, and she wanted all of us to do the work.

Jade lunges forward and grabs my sister by the back of her shirt. She spins her around and holds her by the neck of her shirt. "Either you pick one of those chambers, or I pick for you." She snarls.

She then drops Trina, but remains staring at her. Trina backs away a couple steps, but as she looks to the door, Jade anticipates her escape and instead pulls her by the arm. She flings my sister into one of the chambers, and closes it behind her.

"You fucking BITCH!" Trina accuses, and the pipes above her begin to react.

I wait, watching in horror of what may happen, but nothing does. Not even the timer above her head begins to count down.

"Hey Jigsaw, I think your thingy's broken." Jade calls.

"Jade!" I freak. Did she… did she maybe _want_ to watch Trina suffer…?

Rex didn't return, though, through voice or TV. The timer remained off, and we figure she's trapped.

"Maybe if we find the key, the chamber will open." I ponder aloud.

"Then, let's keep going." Robbie shrugs.

I nod. It was my turn now, so I step forward to a chamber on the other side of the room. I walk inside, turn around, and look to Jade. She watched for a second, then stepped forward hesitantly. "…would you rather I do it?"

"How is that fair!?" Trina shouts from the chamber, but we ignore her.

When I don't answer, she takes another step forward. I swallow, and shut the door before she makes it over to me.

"Tori!" She gasps, and puts her hand on the glass. I shut my eyes, and await my torture.

The tube reacted, and a moment later I'm being sprayed with a familiar substance, only this time in a tighter space. The acid sprayed down from above, eating through my flesh as it dissolved into my body.

It was getting to me quick, and I could feel my scalp burning. I could barely hear Jade's cries from the other end, as it was becoming harder to focus on her voice. I open my eyes, but I'm no longer in the classroom, or in the chamber. It's hazy; Dream-like, almost.

_ I see Beck and Andre on the other side of me; clinging to the cell bars keeping a distance from the sprinklers. Jade approaches me. At first I'm fearful, as her moves are forceful and sudden._

_Her arms fall over me, and she keeps me safe. Her body is a shield, protecting me from the sprays. I feel her lips move against my face as her soothing words assure me everything's going to be okay._

I gasp. My eyes open for real when my senses return, and I'm back in the chamber. The acid begins to slow, and I realize my time is up. I push my way out of the cage, and fall into Jade's arms.

I was still soaking in acid, but she didn't mind. She held me, much like she did when we were first introduced to these trials. "Oh god… Don't do that again." She cries softly, and I feel her lips move against the side of my face.

She eventually let go, and I wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Well some one has to go again." Robbie points out, and we both snap out of our moment to look to him. "So who's next?"

Jade sighs, then looks to me. She presses her lips to mine for a brief moment, and whispers something in my ear.

"Don't wait up for me."

What? What was she suggesting- that I just leave her here in the event that she end up like Trina? By the time I reached this conclusion though, she was already inside the box.

The tube activated again, and dropped water. I assumed it was going to attempt to drown her, but instead, just poured enough to get her drenched. I feared possible electrocution, until I notice her start to shiver.

The clock starts at thirty, and her lips turn blue. The water dripping from her was soon frozen, and the glass around the chamber quickly frosting over. Eventually I lost sight of her, the glass completely incased in frost.

I didn't even realize I was holding my breath until the timer hits zero, and I gasp as I rush to let her out. I have to physically pull her out, and though her movements are slow, I could see the pigment returning to her skin.

I sigh in relief when she finally blinks, and her eyes lock to mine.

"Well, help me warm up or something." She request. I put my hand to her arm, and remove it just as quick at the feeling of how cold she was.

"Are you…" I put both hands on her arms again, and begin to rub up and down. "Are you going to be okay."

She nods quickly. "I think so."

"Hello? Does anyone care about me?" Trina asks, kicking the chamber door.

Of course I did. I mean, she's my sister! She wasn't… well she wasn't _exactly _suffering now though. Jade needed me right now.

"And we're back to me." Robbie says. I think he was feeling a little awkward about Jade and me, though, and could have stepped inside just to avoid having to deal with it.

We rotated like this once more, and still no key. It came back around to me. With only six chambers left, I choose to take the one next to Trina.

The tubes began to shake. As much as I wanted the key to pop out, it just wasn't going to happen. Water begins to flow from the top, which scalds me as it does.

It started to fill the chamber, but very slowly. It started as a small puddle, and a few seconds in covered the entire floor. I was standing with my back pushed against the corner; the heat still splashing up and the fog covering the chamber, forcing the air to become thick. Now I had to stand in it, and I felt its burn through my shoes.

It came up to my ankles, where I still had wounds from my ankle band. I switched feet, but jumping back and forth was only causing the boiling liquid to splash up more, and burn my legs.

The glass wall was slippery, but I put enough force on the side of the walls to hold myself above the ground for a brief period of time. I would slide down some, and the water was raising quicker, but I knew if I just put enough pressure until the doors opened…

But then what? I'd have to drop into the scalding water at some point in time if I wanted to open it? The timer ceases to click, and I figure that time was now.

I kick forward, and try to open it with my foot. It works, but the momentum causes me to fall to the ground. Thankfully, all the water had flown out of the chamber by the time I smacked the floor.

"Tori!" Robbie freaks.

"I'm okay." I breath, and he helps me up. I pause, and look around. "Where's Jade?"

He pointed to another chamber, and I assume she took on another challenge. Though… nothing was happening. Did she trigger the key, then?

I look above her chamber, and my heart stops. The timer wasn't active.


	7. Bullets

Chapter 7: Bullets

**Tori's POV**

I run to her tank, and press my hands against it. "Jade, what… what's happening?"

"I'm trapped." She calls out. "Tori, don't risk it. Don't risk the rest, just go now before you're stuck too."

I shake my head. "We're going to find the key. Then I'm going to find a way to get you out of here." I turn to Trina. "Both of you."

She nods, but Jade just stares.

"Why don't you listen to me…?" She says, and I can hardly hear her. "I don't want you to have to do this. I want you to live."

I'm about to say something, when I hear a scream behind me. Robby had entered another chamber, and the tube above him was releasing some sort of gas. Possibly toxins.

I cringe as I watch, still in front of Jade's chamber. As he's being exposed to this gaseous form of torture, though, a pedestal raises in the middle of the room, and a key is reveled.

"The key!" I note. Robbie had 15 seconds left. I take the key from the pedestal, and watch the timer for him to be finished. The clock hits zero, and he pushes the chamber open.

I show him the key.

"You got it!" He excites.

"No." I correct. "You got it. You triggered the event, and it just… came out of the middle of the floor."

"Thank god." Robbie sighs, and we begin to exit the room.

I look back. Jade's watching me somberly.

"I'll be back." I promise her. Both of them. And follow after Robbie.

We searched pretty much everywhere, but there just didn't seem to be any more challenges. We knew there were three keys left, but just couldn't find them.

"Maybe they start once we unlock the next padlock?" Robbie considers, and I figure we should give it a try.

We unlock the next one, leaving two padlocks left. We wait, but nothing more happens. I follow Robbie down the halls, into classrooms we'd previously been in, but nothing.

On our fifth lap around the school, I notice a small detail that seemed unfamiliar.

"…hey." I say. Robbie stops and looks to me, then where I was looking. It was a light switch, but, the hallways lights were controlled from principal Helen's office.

"Shall we flip it?" Robbie asks.

Honestly I didn't want to. Seeing as though we were stuck, though, and this was likely to trigger another challenge…

I flip the switch, and swallow hard.

All at once the lockers fly open. Each one contained a gun, which began firing off shots simultaneously through the halls.

"What do we do?!" Robbie panics, but we were safe from where we are.

A pedestal raises on the other side of the hall by the gymnasium, and I point it out. Another key, yes!

But…

"How do we get to it?"

Robbie's question, though honest, seemed obvious. There was only one way to the key, and that was to cross the path and avoid the line of fire.

"We make a break for it on three?" I ask, but he stops me.

"Why should we both risk it? It only takes one person to grab it." He explains. "Only one of us goes."

"Oh. …okay." I begin.

The bullets fired off in the background. They had to run out some time, right? But on the other side was a timer, so my guess is when they do run out, so does our opportunity to grab the key.

"We don't have time to contemplate who's going, so let's just both go together." I suggest, and take my mark again.

"One… two…"

He takes mark too, and is ready to dash.

"Three!" I call, and Robbie rushes into the hall.

He makes it a good three leaps until he's shot in the leg, and falls to the ground. Another bullet wiz by his ear, and at this point I think he realized I never intended to go in the first place.

He staggers, up, and begins to limp his way across. He nearly walks into another shot, but pauses just in time as he hears it fire off. I don't know how he can tell- there was a constant noise of bullets, plus the timer was still ticking.

"Just a little further!" I shout. Robbie's nearly at the end when another bullet strikes him, and he was on the ground now. "You're almost out, just keep going!" I prompt.

He didn't budge.

"…Robbie!" I call. "Come on, go!"

…

He wasn't moving, and there was only ten seconds left. I had to get that key myself. Without hesitation, I burst through, and prey I make it without being shot.

At five, the pedestal starts to retract. I nearly make it, but am shot in the shoulder and blown to the ground. I hobble my way to the key before it's taken away. I tuck the object in my pocket, and use my one good arm to pull Robbie towards me, all still on the ground.

"Robbie?"

He doesn't respond.

"Robbie… I'm sorry." I sniffle, watching him, and hoping he'll breath.

The blood continued to spill from his skull, and I had to face the facts. Robbie was dead.

A few days ago I wouldn't have even felt bad. Seeing him here now, drenched in blood, a victim of what we thought was his doing, this all felt wrong. Jade hollered something about a 'Jigsaw', but though I don't know the name of our killer, what he was doing was just unforgivable.

I tried to carry Robbie to the stairs. I wanted to at least take his remains with when we finally escaped this death trap, but my shoulder gave and I couldn't find it in me to carry him any further. I struggle to the steps, and unlock another padlock.

One left. If I could get out of here, maybe I could find help for Trina and Jade. Speaking of which, I should probably check on them, and let them know about Robbie.

Walking the halls alone gave me the creeps. I was used to Jade being here, and with her around, I guess I felt a little more secure. Even when I was forced to down human eye balls, I was able to do it. Jade gave me encouragement, and just her presence alone was enough to convince me I could do anything. And now she needs me. I promised I'd be back for them, and I wasn't going to let them down.


	8. Sacrafice

Chapter 8: Sacrifice

**Tori's POV**

"Jade?" I call, as I enter the room.

She was sitting on the floor, but stands as I enter. I was relieved to still see her there.

"Y-you're bleeding!" She notices. I look to my shoulder.

"It's alright, it doesn't hurt that bad. Robbie and I got another key. Only one lock left, and I can leave and go find help." I inform her.

"Hey, where is he?" Trina asks, and Jade also looks around.

I swallow, and hope the silence will answer the question for me.

"…did he…?"

I nod.

"Oh." Jade sounds, and looks down. "…well, you said you have a key?"

"We were talking about that, actually." Trina adds, and I look to her. "Jade thinks maybe these chambers can be unlocked by the keys, like the some of the doors."

Upon further examination, it appears all the chambers have key holes. I saw these, but I also witnessed them open themselves when the timer went off. It could be possible, though…

"So do you have one?" Trina repeats.

"I used it on the padlock." I admit. "But, there's two left! I can still get you both out of here."

"One flaw with that concept. How do we open the last padlock?" Jade reminds.

Oh… right.

"…well for now, go see if you can get another key." Trina suggests. "And come back when you do."

I nod. There's no telling it'll even work anyway. If it does…

"I wouldn't know where to look. Robbie and I came across a switch by accident, but we checked like, everywhere else.

"Have you been in the bathroom yet?" Jade asks, almost hesitantly.

"Oh, well…" Come to think of it, the only time I went down that hall was to get to the Black Box. There aren't any other classrooms down there, but… "I don't think I have." I admit.

"Well go!" Trina blurts. I glare at her, sigh, then look to Jade once more. She wasn't trying to stop me, so…

"Wait."

I stop, and turn around. "What?"

Jade sighs. "Don't… die…"

I nod. It was a bit obvious, but I think that was her way of telling me to be careful.

The men's room was blocked off, which made me that much more nervous to check the female bathrooms. I press on the door, and it cracks open.

I step inside and take a look around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then as I walked further inside, and froze in my tracks.

"M… Mom?"

"This challenge was meant for your sister, but since she's in a bit of a bind, you'll work just as well." Rex's voice taunts.

As I look to the stalls, I see both my parents are tied by their hands, hanging from the ceiling. Their ankles are also bond by ropes to the bottoms of the toilets.

"M-mom! Dad!" I shout, but I don't know if either could hear me. There was a glass wall separating the stalls from the rest of the bathroom. They looked like they were struggling.

"In front of you are two cranks."

I notice the handles in front of me.

"Rotate them either way, and the ropes pull apart." Rex continues. "And, I think you know what happens after that."

I swallow loudly. I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I've never wanted to be more wrong. I- I just… I couldn't."

"You may not leave this room until you decide who lives, and personally take the life of the other. The choice is yours."

Tears start to roll down my cheeks while I try to avoid eye contact with either of them. I can't say if they could hear any of this, but I know once I make the choice…

"Please don't hate me…" I whimper; squinting my eyes shut.

"Honey."

I shoot up, shocked. They _could_ hear me. What's makes it even harder is that I can hear them.

"Tori." My mother sobs. "Where are we?"

The breath was caught in my throat. I wanted to answer them, but I couldn't. Rex's words just kept repeating through my head. _Take the life of the other._

"No." I manage to stutter out. The doors were barred, and I couldn't deny the fact that I had to make a choice.

I return to face them, standing in front of the cranks. "I don't know what to do." I choke out, sobbing as I do.

Neither spoke. What could be going through their minds during all this?

"Shame on you." My father finally blurts. "To even consider taking your mother's life."

"D-Dad!" I gasp, and my mother's watery eyes widen. "I don't want to! I don't want to have to do this to either of you!"

"I know baby." He says softly. "But it's important that you and your mother live."

He goes silent, and stares me in the eyes sternly. The only thing that could be heard was my mother's crying echoing off the bathroom walls.

"Take care of Trina." He says. "You girls mean the world to me."

I look down.

"…is Trina…" He starts, but pauses in his sentence as if he regrets asking.

"Where's my baby!?" My mom blurts.

I don't respond.

"Oh my god! She's _dead_?" Mom cries loudly.

"N-no!" I assure them. "She's not dead, she's trapped."

"Well save her!" My mother demands.

I couldn't blame her for panicking like this. Still, it made it harder to tell them what was going on.

"I'm trying!" I tell her. "But she's trapped in another room. I need to get a key to save her, but-"

I stopped there. She was continuously repeating 'save her, _save her_' through her sobs.

"Sweetheart." My father breaths, and glances towards the crank.

I can't. But as I think that, my fingers close around the handle.

"What do you think you're doing!?" My mother scolds.

I kept my gaze to the floor, and tighten my grip.

"Don't." My father warns. "Take _my _life."

Words swam through my head. I couldn't think straight, and I felt unconscious of my actions. As if I were in a dream, and I were watching myself as I begin to turn the handle clockwise.

"Tori STOP!" She cries.

But this was reality. One must die, where as the other lives. And the survivor?Rex never specified. The only thing he said to do was kill.

A shriek emanates from my mothers mouth as I make another turn. My dad was yelling too, not from physical pain but the pain of witnessing the death of his wife, by his daughter's hands.

It sickens me to think of things in a practical sense. How Jade's able to do it stuns me; stabbing Cat in the throat for manipulative purposes, erasing all thought from her mind and focusing on doing whatever it takes to finish the task at hand. Thinking in numbers, and not names.

Another full circle, and I make the mistake of looking up. Her head was wedged between her shoulders, and she looked like she could barely breath. I could clearly see where her bones were through her outstretched skin. They looked as though they were going to push through any second, until one of her ribs pops out, and blood begins to pour. I shoot my gaze back down and crank faster.

Numbers. Statistics. My mom wants Trina safe. My dad's trained in criminal justice.

I hear a snap, followed by the image of blood splattering on the wall. When I look up, I see two arms hanging from ropes, and a human body lumped below it. Her organs were spilled into the bowl below, which overflowed with red.

"Oh god." I breath, covering my mouth with my hands. "Ah-I…"

Beside me, the door unlocks. I look around, but no key is present, and my dad remains bound.

"You have completed the task, and may leave as promised. However, there is a key."

I take another look around the room before stopping at my father.

"Leave the room, and abandon the key and your friends, or take his life and leave with the prize." Rex instructs.

Rex's maniacal laughing fades out, and I look towards my father. His eyes were blood-shot and reflected sorrow.

"I loved your mother." He mutters out, a tear dripping off his chin.

I didn't know what to say. I knew how much he loved her; and I loved her too. Choices have to be made, but this was beyond cruel. Now I'm expected to choose between the key or my own dad's life.

"Baby, you told me Trina was trapped." He starts, quieting his voice.

I nod.

"Promise me you'll save her."

This isn't right. First he sacrifices himself for mom, and now to save Trina, he's asking that I…

"Promise. Me." He says more sternly.

"I promise." I gulp, squint my eyes shut, and crank the handle.


	9. Freedom

Chapter 9: Freedom

**A/N: I apologize for the late update. I've been on stage running lines all day and am just getting back. Chapter 9 is the remainder of my pre-written content, and due to homework and rehearsal I'm unsure if I'll be able to have new content available to post on a three-day basis. I assure you that Saw II will continue (as i have a breakdown of the last three chapters written, just not in story form) so i ask that you be patient in the mean time.**

**Tori's POV**

It's incredible the lengths people will go to in order to survive. I've had to endure challenges that test all the boundaries, and somehow I won them all. I know I've relied on others through just about each and every trial. Jade's carried me through these challenges, and now she's relying on me to save her.

The key I hold now, it's own symbol of freedom, comes with a price. Yes; the price I had to pay with the lives of my own parents. But now I have to make a choice. Those boundaries that I've been tested with aren't just physical; Wits, reaction, instincts… betrayal.

Rex tempted both Jade an I with a chance to kill off one another. Each time, we both survived. Against all odds, we made it out alive. Maybe, just _maybe_ there's a way for me to keep my promise to my parents AND rescue the girl I owe my life to; the girl I'd just as willingly give my life for if it ever came down to it.

Jade…

"You don't _disserve _to be saved!" I hear from the halls as I start to walk back to where they were being held.

"I'm her sister, she HAS to save me!" Trina argues back.

I stop around the corner of the room and listen.

"It's her choice what she wants to do. She doesn't _have_ to do whatever you tell her!" Jade counters.

"Well she doesn't have to do what you tell her either." Was Trina's response.

"I know she won't- but that doesn't mean I'm not going to at least try and convince her to get out while she can."

Get out while I can. Jade wasn't saying I should use the key to free her instead of Trina, she wants me to use the key for myself.

"She won't listen to you because she's going to listen to me." Trina returns, sounding sure of herself.

"For all you know she's probably already left." Jade tells her.

**Jade's POV**

"I would never just abandon you." Tori says as she enters the room, and I'm surprised to see her

"Hah!" Trina mocks.

I roll my eyes, and so does Tori.

"You're okay." I sigh in relief. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough to tell you you're wrong." She says, approaching my chamber.

"In your face!" Trina shouts from the other side, and I try to block her out.

I look to Tori, lips trembling, tears welling up in my eyes. "Tori." I begin softly. "Listen to me. Just hear me out, okay? You came out of that last challenge alive but there's no telling what's going to happen in the next. You may not be so lucky."

By the looks of it, she had no physical markings. A truly painful look passes over her face though, and I can't say I know what she's been through.

"If you leave now, you can find help." I continue. "Get as far away from here as possible and tell someone. You can still get out of here Tori. You can still save us both! But first, you need to save yourself."

It was the logical thing to do, but-

"I've already made my choice." She mutters. "I'm going to use the key."

I pause; the breath caught in my throat, and when I'm not able to say anything, I look down and shake my head slowly. She's made her choice…

"For Trina."

I shoot up, looking at her in disbelief.

"O-on…"

"I'm so, so sorry." She begins to sob, and presses her hands against the glass. "I promised my dad…"

"Trina?" I stutter. "You went through- god only _knows_what, and you're going to waste it on her?" Tears stared to flow from my eyes. "Are you fucking out of your mind?!"

"I wouldn't even have this key if it weren't for my dad!" She cries. "He sacrificed himself. I could have gone, but he wanted me to have the key. He wanted me to save her."

And what about her? Wouldn't her dad want her to live as well? I didn't say it though; I was done arguing with her. If she really thinks freeing Trina over me is what's best, then I have nothing else to say to her. Of course I wanted her to use it on the padlock over anything else, but I sorta… I guess I just expected she'd free me. I would save her in a heartbeat, and I have on numerous occasions. What's Trina done for her?

No. Trina wasn't even part of the equation. This was about her dad, and more specifically the promise she made to him before he died. Something happened while she was gone. Something happened, and now she's decided to free Trina.

"I don't claim to understand." I choke out. I was sitting on the floor of the chamber, my arms wrapped around my knees. "But… you're the one holding the key. It's your choice."

Tori swallows, and keeps here eyes locked to me. This wasn't an easy choice for her, but it's hers to make.

A tear drips off her face as she breaths out her words. At first I don't hear her, but the look on her face was enough to tell me everything.

_I love you._

My heart sinks in my chest as she turns away, and suddenly I realize I can't breath.

What is this…? Was the oxygen being cut off from my chamber? Or maybe some other form of poison that my lungs were rejecting or maybe… maybe…

Maybe I _love_ her?

I can't deny that I have feelings for her, feelings that go beyond friendship. But this- this, _right now _thing. Is it really…

"Well what are you waiting for? Open the door, let me out of here!" Trina panics. "You know I'm claustrophobic."

Tori stops in front of her chamber. "Trina, our parents are _dead_, didn't you hear me?"

"Yeah, that's really sad." Trina replies, her face reflecting a 'bummed' attitude. "Well, guess you better grant dad his last wishes and let your big sister out of this cage."

I felt like vomiting.

"I can't believe you! You're so selfish! I would just leave you here if this were my choice!" Tori pauses as a look of realization passes over her face. "No."

"N-no?" Trina stutters. "Wait…"

"I earned this key. I had to watch them die… I had to kill them." Tori mutters; more to herself then Trina or I. "This key is _mine._"

"And I'm the selfish one?" Trina mocks, but looks as though she regretted it. "Wait- I'm sorry, TORI!"

Tori was already walking away though. She doesn't hesitate to stick the key in the chamber, and I stand dumbfounded as the door opens, and the key locks in its place.

We store at each other. She was waiting for me to step out; to accept the freedom she had granted me, but I couldn't. By freeing me from this cage, she is still trapped within the walls of this school.

"Well…?" She finally speaks. "Come on, let's go."

Tori…

Trina was shouting from the other side of the room. At first we figured she was yelling at Tori and scolding her for the choice she made. I then realize she's melting in a pool of acid. Tori must have noticed my reaction, and looked back herself. She calls her sisters name in fear before I grab her by the hand and pull her out of the room as quickly as possible.

She wraps her arms around me and begins to sob, and I hold her. Her parents, her sister… I can't imagine the guilt she must be feeling over all of this. "I'm sorry." I croon, not sure what else I could say to make this better.

"Jade!" She cries loudly. Her arms tighten around me as her tears start to dampen my shoulder.

"I know it's hard for you, but there's no going back. I'm so, so sorry."

We stood there for a while, her clinging to me like I was all she had. No one expected what would happen after she freed the other. The truth of the matter is though there's no point to regret, because we can't change the past. There's one key remaining, and though I know for a fact she's not ready to continue on, we needed to get out of here.

I pull myself from her, but allow my hands to fall into hers. "Come on." I prompt softly.

She nods, and her breathing starts to return to normal.

I give her another second before releasing her, and staring down the hall. She walks close to me, and I almost feel bad for having to push her like this.

"J-Jade…" She stutters nervously.

"What is it?"

"I… you don't have to be sorry. Even if I could go back, knowing what I know now, I think…" She shakes her head. "I _know_ I'd do the same thing."

I pause and look at her. She had her eyes locked to the ground, and played with her necklace as she spoke.

"I need you Jade. And not just here, in this twisted mess we've been dragged into." Her hand slips into mine. "I can't even begin to think of what I might do if it were you in that situation."

Again I feel my throat close up, and my breathing come to a halt. Before I knew what was happening I see Tori coming closer to me, holding my hands, our faces suddenly inches apart. She pauses, possibly gauging my reaction or asking permission. My eyes close, and I meet her halfway almost sub-consciously, allowing myself to lean forward and indulge myself in the taste of her lips.

Everything was still. Quiet, calm. We don't part all the way; my bottom lip still connected with hers. She pulls me into another kiss, this one more passionate then the first, and longer. Somehow my hands had found their way around her waist, and I feel like the closer I am to her, the safer I feel.

This time when she stops to breath, her forehead connects with mine and she opens her eyes.

"I love you Jade."


	10. Poison

Chapter 10: Poison

**Jade's POV**

There was one padlock left, and somewhere in this school, a single key, our last chance to escape, remains. It seems we've checked everywhere; the gym, the pool, the black box, all the bathrooms and classrooms, every nook and cranny searched to the greatest extent, but nothing.

"He said there were nine." Tori mutters. "I've counted it over and over, it has to be somewhere."

I counted as well. There are exactly seven padlocks, and Rex personally told us there are nine keys. When we arrived, one of the padlocks was already opened, and a key exhausted. It goes something like this…

Pre beginning:  
9 keys  
7 padlocks

Beginning:  
8 keys  
6 padlocks

Eyes challenge  
7 keys  
5 padlocks

Snakes challenge:  
6 keys  
4 padlocks

Gauntlet challenge  
5 keys  
3 padlocks

Pool challenge:  
4 keys  
3 padlocks

Chambers challenge:  
3 keys  
2 padlocks

Bullets challenge:  
2 keys  
1 padlock

Sacrificial challenge:  
1 key  
1 padlock

One key remaining. Somewhere.

Tori points out our school's supply closet, and walks towards it. I grab her by the wrist.

"What?" She questions.

"You realize if we go in there, it's very possible we trigger an event." I point out.

"Isn't that the point?" She asks.

I inhale deeply. "It's just… maybe we need to re-cooperate a little before charging ahead."

"Jade, we've been over this already. We're in as good of condition as we're gonna be. Sitting and letting our wounds heal isn't going to do anything for us if we're just exhausting our energy like that."

I knew she was right, I was scared though. Sure; I was scared of what might happen to us if we went in there, but I was more concerned for her sake then mine. What would I do if she didn't make it out of this…?

"At least take this, then."

She looks at me. "You still have it?"

I nod, and hand her the gun. "I'd rather you have it so you can protect yourself, incase something happens to me."

She closes her eyes, and I can tell she doesn't want to think about it.

"Let's get the last key and get it over with." Tori declares.

She walks in front of the door. Puts her hand on the handle. She hesitates for a brief moment before opening it and stepping in. I follow her, tediously.

The supply closet is across from the science lab; it holds the school's lab equipment as well as other chemicals and experiments. It was one of the larger storage areas in the school, but unlike the janitor's closet by Lane's office, there was no passage to the library upstairs.

The lighting was dim. I half expected the door to lock behind us, but it didn't.

"This is your final challenge, girls." A voice reverbs through the PA. "Listen to my instructions carefully, or you may loose your final key."

Tori looks to me, and I nod. We both await his instruction.

My heart was pounding. Since our very first trial I've expected challenge after challenge, knowing in my mind that I had to get through each and every one and survive while doing it. I was driven by savage intentions, and blocked all guilt and fear out of my mind. The objective hasn't changed, but the stakes have. I'm no longer just fighting for myself, now. Since I first realized we were trapped in this school, I've had the mindset that I needed to do whatever it took to protect her. It's caused for sloppy mistakes on my part; and if it weren't for her, I would have been out of here by now.

I… I genuinely do care about her, though. I may act like I don't, but I think I always have. I never really realized it though until we were in life-or-death situations like these.

"Among the chemicals in this room, there is one known as Ethylene Glycol." Rex's voice explains.

I scan over the room, but can't seem to spot it. I see Tori reach for something, and pick it up from behind her.

"The challenger must ingest the full bottle of this liquid before the challenge begins." The PA announces.

Ethylene Glycol… What does it do? Is it going to make me hallucinate? I extend my hand, and grab the bottle from Tori.

"…let go!" I demand, when she continues to grip the bottle tightly. She yanks back.

"What happens after we drink this… chemical stuff?" She asks, looking to the PA.

"Your instructions will continue when the entire bottle is consumed." The voice informs.

I reach for the bottle again, but Tori pulls back. She twists the cap off, and before I can protest, takes a sip. She shoots back instantly after the liquid touches her tongue, but doesn't throw up like I expect her to.

"It's… sugary." She notes.

She didn't have a problem after that downing the liquid. I watched in horror as gulped the substance fluently. She did say it taste like sugar, and I'm almost certain she's about as hungry as I am.

Once she finishes it, I look at her. I studied her carefully; her eyes, posture, and balance. She seemed… well, fine.

…Crap- what if it isn't a hallucinatory chemical? What if it's an explosive?!

"You feeling okay…?" I ask cautiously.

She nods. "Um, fine. Actually."

As she says so, the room begins to shake. I duck down in a panic, and Tori covers her head.

"O-okay, maybe I'm a little dizzy." She mutters, holding her stomach now.

"The solution will kill you in as little as fifteen minutes." The voice claims. The antidote can be found on the left side of the unit. The chemical will be labeled 'Grain Ethonal'."

I look to the left. The walls on each side of the door were beginning to close in, pushing cabinets and carts full of liquids and other machinery to the ground.

"The key is hidden somewhere on the right side. You have thirty seconds to make your choice before the room closes in." He continues, and the PA shuts off.

"Get to the other end of the room and look for the key." I instruct. "I'll search for the antidote."

But as I get to my feet and begin to the left, I see her fall to her knees and crouch over. The walls were coming closer, and I had to make a decision.

Okay, if I get the antidote, she'll live, but then we-

_I DON'T FUCKING HAVE TIME FOR THIS!_

My mind was screaming at me to save her, and I dash to my left. I dig through the materials, but it was dark, and hard to see what was what. I finally find the right substance; a small bottle with a cloudy liquid in it labeled in small letters on the bottom of the container. When I turn around, I see Tori limping to the other side of the room. I run to the right side of the cabinet and grab her, just as she crashed to the floor. We barely make it to the door, and I slide out, taking her with me.

She collapses to the floor; moaning in pain. I roll her over on her back, and pour the contents of the bottle in her mouth. She cringes, and almost spits it out. I hold her chin shut, and she swallows.

"Uhg…" She grunts. "My stomach…"

I take a deep breath, and try to calm myself. …calm myself. This is what I should have done earlier. If I had just taken a moment to complete my thoughts, I would have realized she and I were going to rot away in this school, whether the chemical had killed her or not, if I hadn't gotten that key. At least if I had grabbed it, I could have gone out and looked for this 'Grain Ethanol' myself, or gotten help.

"Tori, I'm sorry." I cringe, and squint my eyes shut.

She looks at me. "For what? Jade, you saved me." She says, starting to sit up a little now.

"I should have grabbed the key. I should have gotten us out of here." I say, lowering my head.

"But you didn't." Tori reminds. "You got the antidote."

…

"…and I got the key."

I look up now in shock. Tori held the key between her fingers.

"You found it!" I excite. Did she have it all along?

She smiles, and struggles to her feet. I stand up, and help her up. "Come on, let's get out of here."

I don't disagree, and let her put her arm around me as we hobble to the stairs. We rounded the corner and I take the key from her, but both of us freeze when we find two individuals sitting on the stairs, waiting for us.

"Hello, girls."

"S-Sikowitz?!" Tori gasps. "And Lane! You guys are okay! I thought I-" She shakes her head, as if passing off the thought that crossed her mind. "I'm so happy to see you're both still alive."

"The feelings mutual." Sikowitz nods. "Now give us the key."

"Of course!" Tori nods, and looks to me.

…so needless to say, I was a tad bit more skeptical then she.

"We were just about to open the last padlock." I explain. "Come on, Tori. Let's go."

"Jade," Tori laughs, noticing my tension. "Relax. It's Sikowitz! He'll watch me while you unlock the door."

"We… can't let you do that." Lane says. "You can't open the door."

Now Tori's expression changes to a more concerned look. "But… But why? This is the last key, and we only have one padlock left. We-"

"The last one?!" Sikowitz notes aloud. "Girls, we need that key."

I tighten my grip around the key in my hand, and around Tori too. "Look; I don't know what kind of offer Rex or Jigsaw or WHOEVER made with you, but it's too damn bad."

"J-Jade!" Tori scolds, but I pay no attention to her.

"This is our last chance to escape this hell, and I'm not wasting it." I declare.

"You don't understand- we need that key." Lane repeats. "Using it on the padlock IS a waste."

"You guys want to get out of here too though, don't you?" Tori asks.

"Of course we do." Sikowitz begins to explain. "But you have to understand that we need the key so we can use it to-"

As they continue their conversation, I take my arm from Tori. She seems stable enough to stand on her own, and I begin to the stairs, where Lane and Sikowitz were.

Both stand.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Lane freaks.

"I'm getting the hell out of here." I announce, and continue past them up the stairs. I'm about to start up the second set, but Lane grabs me by the hair, and yanks me down. I fell down the steps, and land on my back; my head smashing into the ground.


	11. One Last Obstical

Chapter 11: One Last Obstacle

***Tori's POV***

I wonder if this was Rex's plan all along. I wonder if he intended to have Sikowitz and Lane fight us for the last key. I wonder if those two have been here, just as long as Robbie and Trina were. There were endless possibilities, but none of it mattered. Whatever their intentions are, they can't be good if it involves attacking Jade.

Sikowitz leans down and scrambles to fight Jade for the key. I decide to go after him. As he runs past me down the hall, I tackle him. He attempts to get me off, but I sink my teeth into his ear, and pull back. He eventually drops me, and the key, and I roll on the ground and grab it.

He brings his foot down on me, but I've seen this too many times to fall for it. _Survival instincts. Is this what Jade was talking about before?_ I roll out of the way, key in hand, and make a dash for the door.

I notice Jade, who was being beaten by our councilor Lane. I wanted to help her, but I had to get this key to the padlock before Sikowitz caught up, and they took our last chance at escape from us. I'm about to accent the stairs when Lane stops his attack on Jade to trip me, and I fall face-first against the stairs.

"Tori!" Jade shouts. She has a moment to free herself with Lane distracted, and gets to her feet. She dodges Sikowitz, and swings at Lane just as I feel him take hold of my wrist. He lets go instantly, and Jade helps me to my feet. We begin forward when both of us are taken back, and the adults hold us above ground.

"We need the key to escape!" I yell, hoping to reason with them.

"Give it to us!" Lane counters, and tosses Jade back. She's flung toward the lockers, and I hear a slam.

With Sikowitz holding me, I couldn't defend myself as Lane pries my hand open with the key in it. I fight to hold on, when suddenly, he stops.

Lane falls forward, and Sikowitz stammers back; dropping me as he does. I notice Jade standing in front of us; holding a pair of scissors from her locker door. She had a deadly look in her eyes, which painfully reminded me of the solid, heartless look she acquired once she'd jabbed Cat.

There's blood dripping from her scissors, and she continues forward with a focused expression toward Sikowitz. He continues to back up, and I'm near panic.

"Now, Jade. Let me explain…"

She doesn't respond. Her focused, heartless look turned into a full-on rage, and she screams as she lunges forward with her scissors.

"Oh my god!" I screech. I was frozen in my spot, practically useless to the situations. "Jade, don't!"

"Please, Jade!" Sikowitz reverbs, and stumbles to the ground.

She was breathing heavy, and had a death grip on her utensil. She begins to slow from her rush, though, and brings her arm down. She still had a stern expression, and looked as though she could snap at any moment.

"Stay on the floor, and DON'T. MOVE." She instructs, and Sikowitz nods hastily.

She looks to me, and I can't help but flinch. She takes a step towards me, and I fight the urge to run.

"Tori… go unlock the door." She instruct. "I'll keep an eye on him."

I swallow hard. "Mmhm…"

"…you okay to walk?" She checks, as I shakily start toward the stairs.

"Ah-I!" I stutter. I take a breath, and look back to her. Her eyes showed concern, now, and drop my shoulders. "I'm gonna be just fine." I assure her and smile.

She smiles a bit too, but it fades as she looks down to the bloodied scissors in her hand. "…hurry." She sighs, and shuts her eyes. I see her turn back around and lock her eyes on our teacher before heading up myself.

I round the corner, and look to the padlocks. Six of them were unlocked, holding the keys in them. We worked hard to obtain five of them, and the other was already there once we arrived. I assumed that Trina and Robbie had gotten it, but who knows who else is alive here? I didn't pay attention to which faculty were missing from the gauntlet trial. And the students… who else is still alive? If any at all were able to survive the acidic rain.

I take hold of the padlock, and am about to turn the lock when I hear a scream.

"Jade!" I shout, and rush down the stairs.

I freeze at the top when I see Sikowitz restraining Jade, and holding the scissors to her neck.

"Tori." Sikowitz begins, his tone shaky. "I don't want to hurt her… I don't want to hurt anyone. But if you don't give me that key, I _will_ do whatever it takes to get it from you. Starting by getting rid of her."

"Don't listen to him Tori, he won't do it." Jade says, possibly trying to convince me not to put myself in danger by freeing her, even.

"Oh yes he will." Sikowitz replies, squeezing Jade tighter in his grip. "Now give me the key, Tori. I'll let her go, and no one has to die."

Oh god! If I give him the key, they we're all trapped here with no means of escape. But if I don't…

There has to be another way. Jade didn't give up on me when she had the chance to walk away, and I had to think of another solution.

"Give me the key now!" Sikowitz commands, this time more forceful. "You do realize she will die. And so will you."

I look to Jade. She looked like she was trembling, and her lip was quivering. She was too afraid to move, or even speak out at this point. …I had no choice. I didn't like it, but, I had to save her.

"Okay." I say, and extend my hand with the key in it.

"Bring it here." Sikowitz says.

My heart was pounding with each step I took. _I can't believe I'm about to do this_. My thoughts raced through my mind, but I knew I knew I couldn't show it. I had to be completely focused for this to work. I put my hand in my pocket.

_One thing about having a cop for a father…_

I pull the gun out of my pocket, drop the key, and take it with both hands. I aim for his head, and am sure Jade is no where in my scope as I fire the single bullet.

_…is that he taught me how to fire a gun._

As the shot is launched through the air, the sound crashes through the halls. I watch as the bullet impacts our teacher, and he's blasted to the ground.

"Oh my god…" Jade whimpers, stumbling forward and running into my arms. I embrace her, and drop the gun. "I forgot you had it. I… I thought I was going to die."

"Shhh…" I rub her back, and hold her close to me. Her pulse was pumping through her at incredible pace, and I knew she needed a moment to settle before she could continue. "I wouldn't have let that happen. Even if I had to hand over the key, I… I didn't have it in me to let you die."

Thank god it didn't come to that, though.

"Girls…" Sikowitz mutters. He… isn't dead yet?! "Girls, you can't use the key on the padlock."

"Sh-should we…" I stutter, looking at him. I couldn't finish though.

"Finish it?" Jade suggests.

I swallow loudly, and finish nervously. "I was going to say 'put him out of his misery.'"

Jade shrugs. "No matter how you say it, it still means the same thing."

She was right, but it just didn't seem right to me. Maybe it means the same thing, but the intentions are two different ideas entirely. It didn't matter anyway, because before we could make a decision, he was already dead.

She looks to me. "Hey, don't feel bad. You did what you have to in order to survive."

The thing is, I didn't. I knew I should have, but, I don't know. Somewhere between the gauntlet and killing my parents…

"Let's just go." I say. I pick the key off the ground, and begin up to the pathway to the roof.

She follows me after a moment, and joins me at the top of the stairs. I hold the key out, and examine it for a moment.

"Where are we going to go once we're out of here…?" I ask, still looking at the key.

"I don't know." Jade sighs. "I'm not leaving your side, though. I promise."

I look to her. I wanted to tell her I knew, and that I trusted her. I didn't have to, though, because she could read it in my eyes. I smile, and return my focus to the key. I turn the lock and open the final padlock. The door opens, reveling a solid brick wall, built over the school's only exit.

*The End*


End file.
